• Ohana Kauai • Visitor on development • Kilauea gym roof • Candidates forum • Second presidential debate Ohana Kauai A letter writer opposing the Ohana Kauai property tax reform amendment got his Bible stories wrong. If the amendment passes,
• Ohana Kauai
• Visitor on development
• Kilauea gym roof
• Candidates forum
• Second presidential debate
Ohana Kauai
A letter writer opposing the Ohana Kauai property tax reform amendment got his Bible stories wrong.
If the amendment passes, he says the County Council will be like the captive Israelites in biblical Egypt who were commanded to make bricks without straw; they will have no power to fund county programs. The more appropriate story of the captive Israelites in Egyptcontains the words, “Let my people go.”
The poor of Kaua‘i are being taxed off their property by their oppressors on the County Council.
The coming election provides a way for the people to rise up and protect themselves from runaway taxes by voting “YES” on the Ohana Kauai Amendment. It also provides a way for the people to smite their oppressors a righteous blow by voting all the incumbents out of office.
Dolly Samson
Kalaheo
Visitor on development
We had the marvelous good fortune to visit the island of Kaua‘i. We had never visited an island before. It was later learned that more people visit the other islands of Hawai‘i first. People at home have now told us the other islands they visited seem to suffer from some of the same sprawl problems we have here at home in the Mid-west Mainland. My main objection is no matter where you look you see highways, signs, shopping centers, all the cold, loud, hard things. Trees, flowers, bushes, grass, sand, are much nicer to live with.
We loved everything about our visit, well…except it was too short. The people are wonderful, friendly, nice, interested and interesting, (both the tourist and the residents), the natural wonders and beauty of the land itself, are beyond description and, of course, there is “island time.” We have been home a month now and by husband is still talking about our next trip to Kaua‘i.
In reading the daily paper we found that there were discussions and meetings concerning growth in Kaua‘i. I wish everyone could visit and appreciate the beautiful gift of the island. However, sometimes preservation of a good thing is much more valuable than more tourist dollars. Progress is also good, but it doesn’t have to destroy the natural beauty of the island.
Please, please, preserve your beautiful, unique island. We didn’t even mind the “traffic jam” when the water main broke.
Michael and Sue Meredith
Kilauea gym roof
The celebratory headline in the Sunday, October 10 top headling in The Garden Island shoves out of view, and hopefully out of mind, the serious questions surrounding the Leaky Gym – questions such as:
Why did it take eight years to fix a roof in a month?
What has the triumphant end of this debacle cost the taxpayers of Kaua‘i County? In thousands of hours of hard work by our dedicated county workers? In tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees for Outside Counsel and cost of our own Inside Counsel in the Office of the County Attorney?
Will the County Council, whose members are facing re-election in a few weeks, please come out of hiding behind their habitual Executive Sessions to square with the people?
Unfortunately, my guess is that these questions, which get to the core of honest government, will be met with the usual Dead Silence. The truth, if it ever came out, will likely show that all the money the taxpayers have spent over the past eight years could easily have bought a brand new gym for the long-suffering folks of Kilauea.
Raymond Chuan
Hanalei
Candidates forum
This is in response to the October 6 article entitled, “Candidate Forum Draws SRO Crowd.” I was there as part of the Hoi’ke filming crew. It seemed to me that the main issue with the council members is affordable housing. Mayor Baptise has said that affordable housing will get faster permits. For every large development that is built, a certain amount of affordable housing must be built. So if you want more affordable housing, you need to permit more large developments.
Nalu Thain
Koloa
Second presidential debate
If John Kerry won the second presidential debate as media pundits say, it was a triumph of style over substance. President Bush triumphed in substance on all the major questions. On taxes: Kerry hopes the voters will listen to what he says not what he has done. He says he will cut taxes on the middle class, but for 20 years Kerry consistently voted for higher taxes and against tax cuts for the middle class. Bush cut taxes for all Americans.
On allies: Kerry said repeatedly that Bush “pushed our allies away.” He did not. He got Britain, Australia, Italy, and 30 more to join the coalition. He did not get France, Germany, or Russia. Kerry derides the allies who joined and thinks France, Germany, and Russia are the only allies that matter. However, U.S. Weapons Inspector Charles Duelfer recently revealed that France, Germany, and Russia conspired with Saddam Hussein to subvert U.N. sanctions and the “Oil for Food” program and entered into illegal contracts that netted Hussein $11 billion, which he spent on banned services, technologies, and war equipment that killed American soldiers. The allies Kerry claims he can bring to our side are not allies at all. They have been stabbing us in the back for the past decade.
On making America safe from terrorism: Kerry’s world view is this is the wrong war and Osama bin Laden is the correct target. Bush maintains the war on terror is not only bin Laden but to insure terrorists don’t have a safe haven and get WMD’s. “The way to defeat them long term is to spread freedom. Liberty changes habits.”
President Bush has the correct world view because democracies do not
start wars. Dictatorships do.
Biff Whiting
Kalaheo
